Clinton and Obama Feud

Posted on Feb 21, 2007

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have finally dropped the smiles and gone after one another, albeit over a non-issue. The spat started after David Geffen, a former Clinton backer turned Obama fundraiser, called Hillary “polarizing” and overly ambitious.

After the Obama campaign refused to denounce the remarks, Hillary said she didn’t want “Democrats or supporters of Democrats to be engaging in the politics of personal destruction.”

Some harsh words have been expressed by both camps, not to mention David Geffen. Here are some choice examples:

David Geffen: “It’s not a very big thing to say ‘I made a mistake’ on the war, and typical of Hillary Clinton that she can’t.”

Phil Singer (Clinton’s deputy communications director): “A day after Barack Obama goes out and eschews the politics of slash-and-burn, his campaign embraces the politics of trash.”

Barack Obama: “It’s not clear to me why I would be apologizing for someone else’s remarks…My sense is that Mr. Geffen may have differences with the Clintons, but that doesn’t really have anything to do with our campaign.”

BBC:

It was sparked after Hollywood mogul David Geffen hosted a fundraiser for Mrs Clinton’s rival and called her overly ambitious in an interview.

Mr Geffen, who once backed Bill Clinton, also claimed the former first lady might be a “polarising” figure.

However, Mr Obama’s camp has refused calls to denounce the remarks.

A spokesman for the Obama campaign noted that the former first couple did not complain when Mr Geffen raised millions of dollars for Mr Clinton’s presidential campaign and was entertained at the White House.